Ahh...Spring Skiing

I don't think I will ever be able to get enough of spring skiing in Alaska. Powder, groomed trail, crust, snowmachine trails, or sastrugi... it seems like there's a fun and freeing way to experience it all. With increasing daylight, the exploration routes through the mountains, trees, and river systems seem endless. And I feel like I have barely begun to tap into what is possible.

Here are some pics from some morning/day trips in the past month or so...

Eklutna Lake/Serenity Falls:

Dad with the Twin Peaks in the background.

Dad checking out the old avalanche debris just past the lake. I thought we would turn around after about an hour of skiing, but we kept wanting to see what was around the next bend or mountain... and eventually found ourselves at the Serenity Falls hut (~22miles round trip).

Beautiful, high peaks back in this valley.

Eagle River area:

Turnagain Pass:

Paige Brady, a lifelong adventure buddy and telemark skiing inspiration (check her out in the Powderwhore ski movies). The powder, wonderful not long ago, became wind affected which made made gradual slopes more enticing such as touring at places like...

Rabbit Lakes:

A beautiful place in the winter too, even with the wind whipping through (Paige Brady pic). A huge thanks to Skhoop for their generous sponsorship of the most stylish winter wear.

Arctic to Indian:

Arctic Valley area and Birch, the Bird-dawg.

There are plenty of strong ice and snow bridges along the way right now.

And even some open water to fill up bottles if needed.

35k of bliss through the Ship Creek Valley.

Jeff, Carolyn, and Eric. We were all on fish scaled touring skis, which was the way to go for the current conditions. Having metal edges for the relatively steeper luge-like descents in the woods was super nice. Thanks to the Brady's for letting me borrow their ski set up, rather than risk breaking one of my beloved nordic pairs.

A spread eagle on the spot. A good day in the mountains gives me an energy and enthusiasm that I can't explain.

Another thing that gives me this vivacity is coaching. Getting outside with other skiers, seeing improvement, sharing what I've learned, and learning more in the process has been rewarding and fun job.

I may be shifting the structure of each day from ski-training/racing/coaching... but I feel like skiing, training, and coaching, each in some form or another, are all things I wont ever really be able to live without.